News & Press

On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Catherine Rickard highlights some important questions organisations should be asking themselves.

Penny Tamkin suggests five HR tendencies that can shift what appears to be a popular people management practice to one that is unpopular.

Several articles in this issue are linked to an underlying theme of work, health and wellbeing. Indeed, the related questions of how work affects people’s wellbeing (for good or ill) and of how people’s wellbeing affects their performance at work, are of growing interest to both policymakers and employers and have been an increasing part of the Institute’s work portfolio for several years.

In the summer of 2015, a plan for ‘Creating a more prosperous nation’ was presented to Parliament, outlining major policy initiatives for both the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and HM Treasury to help reduce the productivity gap between the UK and other G7 countries. In order to answer questions raised by the new policy direction, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills funded the new Centre for Vocational Education Research (CVER), a multi-year research programme. The Centre aims to become a world-class research hub with the potential to generate a step-change in our understanding of the nature, significance and potential contribution of VET to individuals and the wider economy.

This Autumn, IES will be launching our Honorary Fellows programme.

The importance of the role of line managers in employee wellbeing and health has been highlighted by guidelines recently published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which were underpinned by an evidence review from IES.

The road haulage sector is an important transnational sector in the European Union. The industry has undergone significant structural change over the past decade, due to liberalisation of the market and the increased competition that this has caused. IES recently undertook research for the European Parliament that assessed the impact of market integration on employment conditions in the sector. A complicated picture emerged of a sector characterised by long and complex subcontracting chains and instances of long driving times, inadequate rest, and some employer practices aimed at circumventing EU and national employment regulation.